Tony McGee on the Steelers & Cowboys

[Gmanc711]

Hello Everyone,

I hope everyone enjoyed the bye week and is ready for Dallas this week.

Quickly touching on the Steelers game, than we can look at some other things going on the past couple of weeks. I honestly think this team may have found out its not quite as good as they may think they are. The better team definitely won that football game, and I think and hope that it was a wakeup call for the Redskins. In my opinion, there were a lot of people that were much more worried about making a fashion statement last Monday than beating the Steelers; it appeared to me that too many players did not have their heads in the game. In the Redskins defense, the Steelers are a very good football team, and boast the best defense in the NFL. It is a tough task for anyone to take on, and considering the shape the Skins’ were in with injuries and such, I was not that surprised/concerned with the physical part of it. The mental portion is what had me a little bit more concerned.

On DeAngelo Hall, I’m not sure how much I really like the signing as a whole. However, I think it’s a low risk/high reward chance the Redskins are taking, so I cant fault them all too much for that. Hall has given up a lot of big plays so far this season, but with the injuries to Shawn Springs and Fred Smoot so far this year, I understand why they felt they had to make a move. I think there were a lot of other guys they could have let go besides Leigh Torrance, but I think we’ll see Hall in a somewhat limited role unless more injuries come along.

In terms of pass protection and who I would rather face as a defensive player? I still think I’d rather go against Heyer. I still think Jon Jansen is the guy that should be in their for Washington, he is the more complete player. Heyer maybe better in one on one battles, but I think Jansen can help this team win more games. I also think some of the blame that was placed on Jansen after the Steelers game was somewhat unwarranted, as I don’t think as much was his fault as was being made out. You also have to remember they were going against the #1 defense in the NFL. Overall though, I think Jansen is the guy who can help this team win, so he’s the guy I would want in there if it were up to me.

What happens to Jason Campbell when Santana Moss is taken out of the game? I think last week against the Steelers was a bad example of what happens when Moss is out of the game. He is clearly Jason’s #1 target in the offense, and he still has to go through his progressions on each and every play. When Moss is not out there, he is going to go through the same thing. With the type of pressure that Pittsburgh was putting on the Redskins, he had to speed those up, which would cause any quarterback to look a little bad. Furthermore, they’re still missing a legitimate BIG #2 receiver. When he’s doing those check downs, you would normally like to see a body in the middle of the field, which is where a big receiver would be.

Thus far this season, I think the Redskins have slightly exceeded my expectations. I thought going into the year they would be just above .500, which they’re on pace to break. I’m very interested to see how they respond the second half of the season as the pressure begins to mount on a first year head coach.

The guys that I think need to step up and be more involved in the game plan? There is no guy offensively that I can really point too, obviously you want to see more production from the rookies, but they seem to be spreading the ball around pretty well otherwise. The guys I want to see more involved are the defensive linemen and Shawn Springs. I honestly think Demetirc Evans is playing the best football of anyone on the Redskins defensive line. I want to see Andre Carter and Jason Taylor turn it up a little bit and start to apply some better pressure.

In addition, this maybe more about this week, but a #2 running back needs to step up behind Clinton Portis. The guy I would really like to see do this is Rock Cartwright. I know a lot of people may think differently, but that’s a guy that can come in and give you tough yards that you need. I would really like to see him get an opportunity this weekend if Portis can’t go.

This game against Dallas is a very big game, and I only expect this NFC East to get tighter as we go down the stretch. I really still expect the Giants, as good as they’re playing right now, to drop a couple games and I think the race will really tighten up. The Giants are the only team in the division that have bought themselves a little margin for error, and even they don’t have too much I don’t think. Its very important for Washington to get out to an early lead in this game, because I think if they do that, Dallas will start to implode a little bit.

- Tony

[MiraclesHappen07]

Good Lord man this is long....i like it!! =] good points you pointed out there